We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chenae Day a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Chenae, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?
As a physical therapist in the Army, it was my job to translate all day, every day. I had to translate medical jargon into words my patients could understand. I had to make boring exercises exciting so that patients would actually do them and get better. I had to translate Army jargon for civilian patients. Within one business day, I could speak what seemed like 7 different “languages”. I do believe this has helped me tremendously on my journey as a business owner, and specifically as a copywriter. I love working with clinicians who need to turn all the “smart stuff” in their brains into language that’s not only easily understood by their target audience but also motivates them to make a decision to better their lives, by booking a call or purchasing a product. My ability to adapt and speak to people of all ages, ranks, and backgrounds from my experience in the military has led me to become very adaptable. I love that I can help people from all walks!
Chenae, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Chenae Day and I started copywriting back in 2019. At that time, I had a 1-year-old and a 5-year-old at home, and it was getting increasingly harder to be away from them at work all day! I had shifted out of the clinic and was working in a research role, which provided the opportunity to work from home from time to time, but ultimately, I was missing my girls so much! I decided to invest in Sarah Turner’s Write Your Way to Freedom course, and it was the best business decision I could have made! Her course laid the foundation and has paid for itself many times over. With continued mentorship and new modules added all the time, I honestly can’t keep up! I started out offering any type of copy people needed — I think this was integral for my own growth as a copywriter because I got experience across the board. I wrote emails, ebooks, web pages, social media captions — I even dabbled in graphic design as well, just for fun! It’s been quite the journey! Now, I have learned I really enjoy short-form copy more than anything else. I’ve been able to grow my business to provide mentorship for other budding clinicians-turned copywriters as well, which has been incredibly rewarding. It’s so fun to help my clients – business owners with such amazing skills and obvious passion for their own work. I help them take their gifts and share them with even more people. I have enjoyed coming alongside them as a strategic partner, offering suggestions to amplify their marketing efforts and get the most bang for their buck. I helped one client (who I could have only ever *dreamed* of working with in PT school) make $10,000 in 4 weeks with 6 emails. I was on top of the moon! And so was she, of course! My bottom line is this — if you trust me to help you grow your business, I’m going to do exactly that. I don’t take my clients’ trust for granted, and have been truly blessed to serve many business owners to date!
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
When I was just getting started with copywriting, I thought of it as a “side-hustle”. Just something I enjoyed and wanted to learn more about. My main initial lead generation strategy was cold emailing. I sent a lot (and I mean *a lot*) of cold emails. I knew something would stick, eventually.
I got a reply to one of my cold emails several months later, and it was from a true dream client. This is someone basically famous in my field, and someone I really looked up to in PT school. When I sent the email, I was thinking, “what the heck, the worst she can do is say no, right?”
Well, she didn’t say no. SHE SAID YES!!
I was thinking, “why me? why did she say yes to ME?”
In the beginning, I dealt with some pretty heavy imposter syndrome and honestly didn’t trust myself to deliver, despite all my training plus my clinical background which gives me such a leg up in my niche.
I was so nervous about getting on the discovery call with her. But the call went so well! Afterwards, I decided to pitch an email package to her with an idea that I was just hoping she would love, and she did! The email series I created for her generated over $10,000 in sales in just 4 weeks. She got wonderful feedback from people on her email list, and said she could have never done this without my help.
She’s still a client of mine who I love dearly, and who reminds me to “just do it” whenever I’m feeling nervous about a new client or pitch.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
My side hustle (copywriting) turned into not one, but two completely separate full-time businesses! In addition to copywriting “on the side”, I also began working as a pediatric sleep consultant for a small business whie still working as a Physical Therapist full time. I always loved working with postpartum Moms, and helping them get more sleep was so fulfilling.
I was able to grow my copywriting client load and had enough sleep clients to completely replace my PT income less than a year after quitting my last PT job as a Research Administrator for the Air Force.
Since then, I’ve branched away from sleep consulting for that small business and started my own sleep and postpartum wellness coaching business. I’m able to use all the skills I’ve learned as a copywriter and marketing strategist to boost my sleep business, which has been so fun. As much as I love my copy clients, there will always be a special place in my heart for postpartum Mamas.
I had such a rough time after I had my first baby. It made me feel like I wasn’t cut out for motherhood. My second postpartum experience was a breeze, and it opened my eyes up to what postpartum and motherhood are supposed to feel like. I never want another Mom to go through what I went through after having my first baby, which is how my second business was born.
I’m not sure what the future holds for my businesses. I love helping women’s health providers improve their online presence and marketing efforts. And I also love helping postpartum moms find peace and empowerment through my coaching. I am currently investing in both businesses to see where they go. For now, I am still having fun and don’t want to give either one up!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.benevolentcopy.com | gentle-sleep-training.mailchimpsites.com
- Instagram: @benevolentcopy | @gentlesleeptraining
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chenae-day/